Local Area Unemployment Statistics

Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics survey (State and Metro Area)

Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, June 1, 2011 USDL-11-0807
Technical information:
Employment: (202) 691-6559 * sminfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/sae
Unemployment: (202) 691-6392 * lausinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/lau
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- APRIL 2011
Unemployment rates were lower in April than a year earlier in 297 of the 372
metropolitan areas, higher in 54 areas, and unchanged in 21 areas, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Twelve areas recorded jobless rates
of at least 15.0 percent, while 16 areas registered rates of less than 5.0
percent. Two hundred thirty-seven metropolitan areas reported over-the-year
increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 126 reported decreases, and 9 had no
change. The national unemployment rate in April was 8.7 percent, not seasonally
adjusted, down from 9.5 percent a year earlier.
Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In April, 74 metropolitan areas had jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, down
from 127 areas a year earlier, while 92 areas had rates below 7.0 percent, up from
59 areas in April 2010. El Centro, Calif., recorded the highest unemployment rate
in April 2011, 27.9 percent, followed by Yuma, Ariz., 25.3 percent, and Yuba City,
Calif., 20.2 percent. All of the remaining nine areas with jobless rates of at least
15.0 percent were located in California. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest
unemployment rate, 2.9 percent. The areas with the next lowest rates were Fargo,
N.D.-Minn., and Lincoln, Neb., 3.7 and 3.8 percent, respectively. Of the 16 areas
with jobless rates of less than 5.0 percent, half were located in the West North
Central census division. A total of 224 areas had April unemployment rates below the
U.S. figure of 8.7 percent, 146 areas had rates above it, and 2 areas had rates
equal to that of the nation. (See table 1.)
Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., registered the largest over-the-year unemployment rate
decrease in April (-4.0 percentage points). An additional 11 areas recorded
jobless rate decreases of 3.0 percentage points or more from a year earlier,
and 36 other areas had decreases between 2.0 and 2.9 points. Baton Rouge,
La., and Pascagoula, Miss., had the largest over-the-year jobless rate
increases (+1.2 percentage points each), followed by Brownsville-Harlingen,
Texas (+1.0 point).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Changes to Current Employment Statistics Data |
| |
| With the release of preliminary April 2011 data, state and area |
| nonfarm employment estimates incorporate net business birth/death |
| adjustment factors estimated on a quarterly basis, replacing the |
| previous practice of estimating the factors annually. This allows |
| the state and area nonfarm employment estimates to incorporate |
| information from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages |
| into the net birth/death adjustment factors as soon as it becomes |
| available and thereby improve the factors. |
| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or
more, the highest unemployment rates in April were registered in Riverside-San
Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 13.4 percent, Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 12.1
percent, and Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, Calif., 12.0 percent. Eight
additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The lowest jobless
rate among the large areas was recorded in Oklahoma City, Okla., 4.5 percent,
followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 5.4 percent.
Forty-three of the large areas reported over-the-year unemployment rate
decreases, while three areas registered rate increases and three had no rate
change. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., and Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., experienced
the largest unemployment rate decreases from April 2010 among the large areas
(-3.0 and -2.9 percentage points, respectively). Two other large areas reported
rate decreases of at least 2.0 percentage points. The three large areas with
over-the-year jobless rate increases were New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La.
(+0.7 percentage point), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla. (+0.3 point),
and Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark. (+0.2 point).
Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are made up of 34 metropolitan
divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers.
In April 2011, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., registered the highest jobless
rate among the divisions, 13.2 percent, while Nashua, N.H.-Mass., reported the
lowest division rate, 4.8 percent. (See table 2.)
All but one of the metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate
decreases in April. The two divisions that make up the Detroit-Warren-Livonia,
Mich., metropolitan area posted the largest rate declines from a year earlier:
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills (-2.8 percentage
points each). Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., experienced the only over-the-
year unemployment rate increase among divisions (+1.4 percentage points).
In 6 of the 11 metropolitan areas that contain divisions, the ranges between
the highest and lowest division jobless rates were 2.0 percentage points or
more in April. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., recorded the largest rate
difference among its divisions, 6.3 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem,
Mass.-N.H., 11.1 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 4.8 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In April, 237 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm
payroll employment, 126 reported decreases, and 9 had no change. The largest
over-the-year employment increase was recorded in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington,
Texas (+83,100), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+51,100),
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (+37,100), and Los Angeles-Long
Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (+36,200). The largest over-the-year percentage gain
in employment was reported in Sandusky, Ohio (+13.8 percent), followed by
Elizabethtown, Ky. (+6.3 percent), Flagstaff, Ariz. (+5.2 percent), and Anderson,
S.C. (+5.1 percent). (See table 3.)
The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Riverside-San
Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-16,400), Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, Calif.
(-14,600), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (-9,000), and Albuquerque, N.M.
(-6,300). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were
reported in Missoula, Mont. (-4.2 percent); Palm Coast, Fla., Pine Bluff, Ark.,
and Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, N.J. (-3.2 percent each); and Glens Falls, N.Y.
(-3.0 percent).
Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 27 of the 36 metropolitan areas with
annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2010. The largest over-the-year
percentage increases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted
in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, and Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.
(+2.9 percent each), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+2.0 percent), Austin-Round Rock-
San Marcos, Texas (+1.8 percent), and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla., and San Jose-
Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (+1.5 percent each). The largest over-the-year percentage
decreases in employment occurred in Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, Calif.
(-1.8 percent); Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-1.5 percent); and
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., Baltimore-Towson, Md., and Indianapolis-Carmel,
Ind. (-0.4 percent each).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in April 2011 for 32 metropolitan
divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a
metropolitan area. Twenty-two of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year
employment gains, while 10 reported loses. The largest over-the-year increases in the
metropolitan divisions occurred in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+62,900), Chicago-
Joliet-Naperville, Ill. (+37,400), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+27,100),
and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (+23,500). The largest over-the-year
decreases in the metropolitan divisions were in Camden, N.J. (-7,300), Newark-Union,
N.J.-Pa. (-6,000), Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-5,300), and Edison-New Brunswick,
N.J. (-2,100). (See table 4.)
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan
divisions were reported in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+3.1 percent), Brockton-
Bridgewater-Easton, Mass., and Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, Mass.-N.H. (+2.5 percent
each), Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.4 percent), and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
(+1.7 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were in
Peabody, Mass. (-1.5 percent), Camden, N.J. (-1.4 percent), Framingham, Mass. (-0.9
percent), and Newark-Union, N.J.-Pa., and Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-0.6 percent
each).
____________
The Regional and State Employment and Unemployment news release for May is scheduled
to be released on Friday, June 17, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). The Metropolitan Area
Employment and Unemployment news release for May is scheduled to be released on
Wednesday, June 29, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).

Technical Note
This release presents labor force and unemployment data from the
Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program (tables 1 and 2) for
372 metropolitan statistical areas and metropolitan New England City and
Town Areas (NECTAs), plus 8 areas in Puerto Rico. Estimates for 34
metropolitan and NECTA divisions also are presented. Nonfarm payroll
employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES)
program (tables 3 and 4) are provided for most of the same areas. State
estimates were previously published in the news release, Regional and
State Employment and Unemployment, and are republished in this release
for ease of reference. The LAUS and CES programs are both federal-state
cooperative endeavors.
Labor force and unemployment--from the LAUS program
Definitions. The labor force and unemployment data are based on
the same concepts and definitions as those used for the official na-
tional estimates obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a
sample survey of households that is conducted for the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) by the U.S. Census Bureau. The LAUS program measures
employment and unemployment on a place-of-residence basis. The universe
for each is the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and
over. Employed persons are those who did any work at all for pay or
profit in the reference week (the week including the 12th of the month)
or worked 15 hours or more without pay in a family business or farm,
plus those not working who had a job from which they were temporarily
absent, whether or not paid, for such reasons as labor-management
dispute, illness, or vacation. Unemployed persons are those who were
not employed during the reference week (based on the definition above),
had actively looked for a job sometime in the 4-week period ending with
the reference week, and were currently available for work; persons on
layoff expecting recall need not be looking for work to be counted as
unemployed. The labor force is the sum of employed and unemployed
persons. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed as a per-
cent of the labor force.
Method of estimation. Estimates for states, the District of
Columbia, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale metropolitan division,
and New York City are produced using time-series models with real-time
benchmarking to national CPS totals. Model-based estimation was
extended to the following areas and their respective balances of state
in 2005: the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL Metropolitan Division;
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area; Detroit-
Warren-Livonia, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area; Miami-Miami Beach-
Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division; New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA
Metropolitan Statistical Area; and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA
Metropolitan Division. (Model-based estimation of the New Orleans-
Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area was suspended following Hurricane
Katrina; the indirect estimation methods described below will be used
for this area until further notice.) Modeling improves the statistical
basis of the estimation for these areas and provides important tools for
analysis, such as measures of errors and seasonally adjusted series.
For all other substate areas in this release, estimates are prepared
through indirect estimation procedures using a building-block approach.
Employment estimates, which are based largely on "place of work" esti-
mates from the CES program, are adjusted to refer to place of residence
as used in the CPS. Unemployment estimates are aggregates of persons
previously employed in industries covered by state unemployment in-
surance (UI) laws and entrants to the labor force data from the CPS.
The substate estimates of employment and unemployment, which geograph-
ically exhaust the entire state, are adjusted proportionally to ensure
that they add to the independently estimated state or balance-of-state
totals. A detailed description of the estimation procedures is avail-
able from BLS upon request.
Annual revisions. Labor force and unemployment data shown for the
prior year reflect adjustments made at the end of each year, usually
implemented with January estimates. The adjusted model-based estimates
reflect updated population data from the U.S. Census Bureau, any revi-
sions in the other data sources, and model reestimation. All substate
estimates are reestimated and adjusted to add to the revised model-based
estimates.
Employment--from the CES program
Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment
payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period that includes
the 12th of the month. Persons are counted at their place of work
rather than at their place of residence; those appearing on more than
one payroll are counted on each payroll. Industries are classified on
the basis of their principal activity in accordance with the 2007 ver-
sion of the North American Industry Classification System.
Method of estimation. The employment data are estimated using a
"link relative" technique in which a ratio (link relative) of current-
month employment to that of the previous month is computed from a sam-
ple of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of em-
ployment for the current month are obtained by multiplying the esti-
mates for the previous month by these ratios. Small-domain models are
used as the official estimators for the approximately 39 percent of CES
published series which have insufficient sample for direct sample-based
estimates.
Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a
complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax
reports that are submitted by employers who are covered under state un-
employment insurance (UI) laws. The benchmark information is used to
adjust the monthly estimates between the new benchmark and the preceding
one and also to establish the level of employment for the new benchmark
month. Thus, the benchmarking process establishes the level of employ-
ment, and the sample is used to measure the month-to-month changes in
the level for the subsequent months.
Reliability of the estimates
The estimates presented in this release are based on sample surveys,
administrative data, and modeling and, thus, are subject to sampling
and other types of errors. Sampling error is a measure of sampling
variability--that is, variation that occurs by chance because a sample
rather than the entire population is surveyed. Survey data also are
subject to nonsampling errors, such as those which can be introduced
into the data collection and processing operations. Estimates not
directly derived from sample surveys are subject to additional errors
resulting from the particular estimation processes used. The sums of
individual items may not always equal the totals shown in the same
tables because of rounding. Unemployment rates are computed from un-
rounded data and thus may differ slightly from rates computed using
the rounded data displayed in the tables.
Labor force and unemployment estimates. Model-based error measures
are available for states on the Internet at www.bls.gov/lau/lastderr.htm.
Measures of nonsampling error are not available, but additional infor-
mation on the subject is provided in Employment and Earnings Online at
www.bls.gov/opub/ee/home.htm.
Employment estimates. Measures of sampling error for state CES data
at the supersector level and for metropolitan area CES data at the
total nonfarm level are available online at www.bls.gov/sae/790stderr.htm.
Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available on the
BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/.
Area definitions
The substate area data published in this release reflect the stan-
dards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and
Budget on December 1, 2009. Data reflect New England City and Town
Area (NECTA) definitions, rather than county-based definitions, in the
six New England States. A detailed list of the geographic definitions
is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.
Additional information
More complete information on the technical procedures used to develop
these estimates and additional data appear in Employment and Earnings
Online.
Estimates of unadjusted and seasonally adjusted labor force and
unemployment data for states, census regions and divisions, and seven
substate areas are available in the news release, Regional and State
Employment and Unemployment. Estimates of labor force and unemployment
for all states, metropolitan areas, labor market areas, counties, cities
with a population of 25,000 or more, and other areas used in the admini-
stration of various federal economic assistance programs are available
on the Internet at www.bls.gov/lau/. Employment data from the
CES program are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Ser-
vice: (800) 877-8339.